(Rewritten) Ch. 58 – Xenocide Act II; Jailbait

"That moment when you prepare for a big fight and buy all these new toys… Oooh, yes. Makes your heart beat faster. It's like you're a child again, with a free pass in the toy store.

Well. A toy store of violence and destruction, I guess. Even better."

– The Hog, during an interview with Samulyfe, 2038

***

Another Three poked its head into the large clearing and, just like the others, immediately lost it when it saw me. It rushed at me with gnashing jaws quickly, but not as quick as the dart that broke through its skull and pasted its brain. It slid to an unceremonious stop next to several other corpses barely a few meters from the tree line.

At the center of the clearing, I stood next to the Class I 'Jailbait' Wide Area Audio-Scent Lure—fifty points—a device with multiple moving parts. I hadn't turned it on yet, but it sat there in front of me, on a thin telescoping staff that would elevate it above canopy level for maximum reach.

It had a turbine to spread a scent in all directions. According to Tynea, while that part of the lure was vulnerable to wind conditions, it was also a scent that required very little concentration to get the attention of the Antithesis. It was the pheromones exuded by a nest under attack, after all.

Unfortunately, the constant rain would render that whole thing minimally effective past a few dozen meters, anyway. It'd still serve to drive the Antithesis nearby positively insane and thereby force specific behavior. There'd be no units sneaking off to root a fresh nest.

We'd be relying on the audio lure instead, which mimicked the call of a higher-tier command unit over a rather large area. We'd be having Antithesis racing to 'join' us from up to a kilometer away. That range extended well beyond even the suspected new nest. Tynea had warned me to reapply the painkiller spray before I turned it on. She'd about come as close to speaking in all-caps as an AI could.

And, finally, the lure had some basic tremor detection, which would notify us of the approach of alien underground transports.

A full package for fifty points - excluding defenses. All those moving parts and thin sticks, they wouldn't be able to bear the brunt of Antithesis attention. Which is why we needed to set up defenses.

Of course, the designer had thought of that as well, and the design featured a very useful tool for misdirection: The lure could produce scent pockets to attach to anything. These were highly concentrated versions of 'attack me' pheromones. Effectively, the machine would smell like a nest to be defended, and Leah and I would smell like intruders.

Not foolproof, but close enough for fifty points.

Another Three came investigating, a unit that had split from the big horde chasing Leah, and I turned it into another corpse to join the lineup.

"Tynea, please focus your scouting around this place, as much as is reasonable. I want to make sure that we have optimal awareness of the threats we'll lure."

Understood. Shall I offer tactical advice during the coming battle?

"Absolutely. Make it visual where you can. Say, a ring around us with shades from green to red based on incoming danger from that direction? With floating timers in minutes and seconds until those hit."

As you wish.

The overlay I'd asked for appeared, just in time to warn me with a small green spike of another Antithesis coming by to find itself skewered.

I turned back to the lure, tilting my head. I would activate it soon, but first, weaponry.

I flicked my tail in front of me and studied it, only to be interrupted by a small flock of Ones. "Huh, first plant birds I've seen in a while."

The small number is congruent with the first batch of a young nest, Tinea.

"Ah… Well. I guess that's a point of data."

Quite.

I gave Leah a call which she answered with a happy and slightly out-of-breath "Hey!"

Oh my. Whatsoever might she be doing?

"I'm in the mood for pizza. A pizza you, that is!"

A gale of laughter crashed through my brain. Mental tinnitus. Worth it.

"Okay, okay, Tinea. Fine. What do you need?" she said through her giggles.

Barely not succeeding in keeping the smile out of my head-voice, I explained, "I was about to get shopping for real, but I keep having pests show up and can't put my weapons down. I was wondering if you had a solution, maybe?"

A short silence, Leah too busy driving to think. I heard her engine rev hard, then her quad landed heavily on something, before tearing off again. Then, "Where are the strays coming from?"

"I'm pretty sure the Threes and Fours broke away from those chasing you."

"Oh, then I should do something about those, huh? Uh. A lure? I'll have to unlock a new catalog. One moment, shifting stuff around."

I facepalmed. "Sorry, Leah, I'm dumb. I already unlocked a lure catalog. I'll have Tynea share it with Ypsi, alright?"

"Sure! That all?"

"Yes, I'll be done in a few minutes, keep circling. Just gotta buy some toys, then we can switch and/or kill the fuckers chasing you."

"Cheers!"

I ended the call with a last smile at her portrait, and talked to Tynea instead.

"Okay. I want stuff to mount on my tail—it's pretty strong after all. I'm thinking two or three different weapons; first, an autonomous turret at the base that can shoot in all directions around me. It needs to be able to give us some breathing room to buy Leah armor and whatever else she'll want. Then, a weapon at the tip of my tail that's maybe melee? With an integrated gun like my Sentinel."

That is all doable, especially since the two of you are still earning points every second. How do you wish to control them?

"Oh! Definitely with the aug. Thinking's fastest. Additionally, I want to make sure that the turret won't get in the way of the wings I'm gonna get sometime soon."

Shall I start with that one, then?

"Sure!"

For nearly five hundred points: The Class I Minor Dimensional Shunting catalog, Class I Matter Recombination catalog and the Class I Esoteric Missile Systems catalog would unlock the Class I 'Myriad' Regenerating Micro-missile Hive Prototype. This is a device you would wear around your hips that can launch hundreds of miniature missiles per minute, and build a full complement over the course of five minutes, given access to the necessary materials.

"That does sound interesting. How big is it?"

Very compact for what it can do, but still one of the larger pieces of equipment you can wear without it being power armor.

"Uh…won't that mess with my future flying?"

No, far less than a gun turret would. I shall alter its design such that it'll suit your needs.

"Oh, okay. What do the missiles do?"

They can carry variable payloads based on catalogs you already possess. Better yet, the Myriad can craft these itself from raw materials, though you require blueprints for each version. Doing so would save you a lot of points over time.

"Blueprints?"

You need only the relevant design itself, and the raw materials, if you have the means of production to build an item yourself. The Myriad is exactly that. It already comes with three basic blueprints unlocked; the micro missile itself, a nanite payload for corpse disposal, and a high-explosive load.

"Okay… So, what kind of blueprints can I get?"

Anything that your bombs or specialized bullets can do, you could also do with these missiles. They are smaller than your grenades or bombs, though.

"Um. And I need the blueprints so that I can build those missiles, instead of having to buy them all?"

Yes. I should note that blueprints tend to be some multiple times more expensive than the item itself. But for repeat purchases, such as ammunition, they pay for themselves quite quickly. It would be cheapest to source the raw materials yourself too, but until you have those capabilities, you can just buy them from me and it'll still be more economical.

"Can I use those blueprints to have the Myriad build me grenades and bullets?"

No, unfortunately the designs and technologies differ. They're merely adjacent, and the Myriad is a rather limited factory, since it is so cheap.

"Cheap?"

Even a handheld matter reconfiguration machine that could craft all ordnance that you use would cost you up to a thousand points. The less specialized it is, the more expensive.

"Okay… How powerful are those basic missiles? Like the high-explosive one. What will it kill?"

Of the single-digit models, only the Five and Six would require more than one missile. A Nine may also destroy a small number of inbound missiles with its many blades, but it would be shattered by a dozen or so. Esoteric payloads like the equivalent of the shunt grenade can fully fix such issues, however.

"So, it's not like the system isn't future-proof. Alright. If it won't get in the way of wings, will the wings get in the way of it?"

Not so long as you do not cover the launch batteries with the actual wing arms. The missiles are catapulted from their bays via magnetics, too weak to cause your flesh harm, but strong enough to penetrate the membranes, which, if you recall my explanations before your chrysalis, are designed to weather such injury as a matter of course. The missiles would then engage their motors at a safe distance to execute their mission, much like your twenty millimeter rounds.

Smart-fire weapons… That meant they could jink around the lure and not kill it by accident. And maybe I could set them to prioritize anything threatening the thing?

I liked it.

"Put it on the list. We'll talk about those catalogs and what else they get me, later. And the tail gear?"

I would suggest a three-part design. A very cheap Class 0 plasma cutting/welding torch, with certain safeties removed or replaced, will serve as a melee weapon—and is of course still a usable tool. An adaptation of your current Sentinel to be worn on your tail, and finally, a cybernetic enhancement to your spinneret to increase its usefulness in combat. The latter requires the Class I Moonsinger Technologies catalog, which offers a variety of auxiliary enhancements designed to work seamlessly with their organic upgrades.

More stuff for the spinneret! And the wings, and…everything else Moonsinger I got and might yet get. Oh, that made me positively giddy.

"What would that enhancement do?"

It can weave non-organic material into the strand while it is being extruded, mostly in the form of wires, or small geometries.

Geo—oh! Thorns and such. So I could create, what, a whip? Or rather, a garotte? Other stuff, too. My silk was rather more flexible. Wait. Inorganic?

"Does that include chemicals?"

Certainly.

"Oh shit. Okay. How do I supply it with whatever materials I want it to use?"

Due to your lack of points, I would suggest sticking to minor shunting plug-tanks—which you would unlock with the same Minor Shunting catalog the Myriad requires—similar to the grenades Leah uses in her arms. You'd get the sockets for the tanks installed near the spinneret  and tubing would deliver the solid, fluid, or gaseous materials to the spinneret itself. At a later point, you could upgrade your tail and body to contain reservoirs, matter recombinators or reconfigurators, and even more esoteric support systems.

"Alright. Let's…yeah. That sounds like a future thing to puzzle out. Put the spinneret enhancement on the list. What about the Sentinel? It wasn't that expensive, right? Do I buy another one, or do you want me to move this one?" I asked as I hefted the rifle.

Either option works. The first would require you to dip into your emergency fund, and the latter would require the use of the new welding torch to permanently break the connection between the Sentinel's scope and the rest of its housing. It would be replaced by a new sensor module that you would patch in before you could attach it to the tail element.

"That sounds a lot like it could go wrong."

Certainly, though it isn't a difficult procedure and I would guide you through it. More importantly, you would not have another gun barrel.

"Mmm. Let's not waste time on that. A new Sentinel won't use up my entire emergency fund, will it?"

No indeed, it will not. As you wish. Do you want to purchase the new equipment now?

"Yes! Uh, tail cybernetics first!"

This may be uncomfortable for a moment, Tinea.

Uh-oh.

***